Biden's populist barn burner

The MoJo Daily newsletter, Monday through Friday. [View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter](     February 8, 2023 Watching Joe Biden speak isn't normally my preferred way of spending a Tuesday night. When the president started talking about economic policy, I sipped my Pacifico and expected to spend the next hour fighting off sleep. So I was surprised at just how entertaining last night's State of the Union address turned out to be. Biden proved to be deft at handling the raucous jeers from GOP lawmakers, who took exception when he pointed out that "instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset." As I wrote [last night](, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, wearing a white coat with a fuzzy trim, stood up and appeared to yell, “You lie!” It's true: [Some Republicans]( do want to raise the retirement age, raise premiums, or even have federal programs sunset every five years. As they hollered, Biden saw an opportunity. “So folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now, right?" he said. "We’ve got unanimity!” Biden's way of pinning Republicans on retirement benefits reminds me of what Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) are trying to do with day care. As my colleague [Abby Vesoulis reported](, the lawmakers are introducing a bill that would fund a child care program intended to ease the burden on working families. It's not likely to become law, but it will hopefully make Republicans' stance on the issue clear. "My job right now is to drive up the political pain for every elected official who turns their back on the kind of families who need help so that they can finish their education and go to work,” Warren told Mother Jones. In a divided Congress—and in the lead-up to a presidential election—holding elected officials to their publicly stated stances may be the best we can hope for. —Abigail Weinberg Advertisement [St. Martin's Publishing Group]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [Biden’s Populist Barn Burner]( The president pounded kitchen table issues at his State of the Union address—and delighted in baiting Republicans. BY ABIGAIL WEINBERG [Fiercely Independent] Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack. [Donate]( [Trending] [Why Twitter was right to suppress (some of) the material from Hunter's laptop]( BY DAN FRIEDMAN   [Bolsonaro is living the American dream: Retired in Florida and posting on TikTok]( BY ISABELA DIAS   [Drowning in day care costs? Under this new bill, many families would pay $10 a day.]( BY ABBY VESOULIS   [Recipes of resistance: Making sense of my identity through a Puerto Rican cookbook]( BY EMILY HOFSTAEDTER Advertisement [St. Martin's Publishing Group]( [Special Feature] [Special Feature]( [The Allegations Against One of Soccer’s Richest Clubs Tell the Story of the Sport’s Gilded Age]( The Premier League’s investigation into alleged financial abuses by Manchester City is a moment of reckoning. BY TIM MURPHY Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Donate Monthly]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755